“Can you promise not to fall asleep?”
Radha let out a sigh as she watched the blinking lights of the aircraft in the sky pass by. Kabir and Radha were lying beside each other on their back on the rooftop, looking towards the cloudless sky. Kabir turned towards Radha and lifted his head on his palm with his elbow touching the floor on hearing Radha’s sigh. She didn’t turn to look at him. Finally, Kabir spoke, ‘Where is it that you are planning to go next?’ Radha was lost in her thoughts as if she had magically traveled in that airplane somewhere else. Kabir waited for her response for a few seconds but didn’t get any. He gently shook Radha’s arm and repeated himself, ‘Where are you off to next, madam?’. His touch brought Radha back from the realms she had been virtually roaming in, and she shrugged her shoulders absentmindedly.
After a few minutes, Radha turned towards Kabir. She rested her head on folded arm and said, ‘Kabir, shall I tell you a story?’. Kabir, who had laid on his back again in the meantime, said, ‘yes, why not.’ Radha questioned, ‘Do you promise not to fall asleep in the middle of the story?’ Kabir chuckled and said, ‘Do you not remember why we are laying on the rooftop in this wintery night at this hour? You know I can’t fall asleep easily.’ Radha removed her hand from under her head, laid on her back again, and said, ‘Ok then, remember your promise.’ Then, she began narrating her story to Kabir.
Radha narrates her story: “This story is about a man I met on my last travel to the hills. I was getting down from one of the tallest temples in the area. It had an indefinite number of steps. Earlier, when I had begun the ascend, I thought this would be easy for me. It seemed possible, well within my reach. I had both time and energy at my disposal. You know my enthusiasm levels to explore new places during my travels. I assumed this, too, would be a piece of cake. I was excited to see the view of the entire city, the humongous river flowing, and capture the picturesque from the top. However, the stairs went circularly around the temple building, and with each circle I completed, my panting of the breath increased. The non-stop circles in an upward flight gradually made me nauseous and dizzy.
Every few seconds, I evaluated whether I should move ahead or not. Is the ascend worth it? The view outside was getting more beautiful, but is it enough for now? Shall I try some other day? I was very close to giving up. But suddenly, I could hear an older man shouting at the top of his voice. I looked up to see him at the summit. He roared, ‘If I can, you all can.’ All of us struggling looked up, glanced at him, smiled and continued our odyssey with rejuvenated energy. He kept cheering everyone now. Finally, I reached the temple, paid my respects to the deity, who sat quietly inside his chambers and made us do all the hard work getting to him. Surprisingly, I did not take any pictures when I looked towards the river and the mountains at the peak. The man cheering us earlier was also not to be spotted anywhere. I did not spend more than a few minutes at the top. I started my descend very soon, which was not only easy….”
Kabir stopped Radha mid-way and said, ‘But, what about the man? You said this story is about a man you met in the hills. I thought the cheerleader was the man.’ Radha interrupted, ‘But, I have just started narrating the story, Kabir. When did I say this was ‘the man? Can I continue?’ Kabir nodded with a dissatisfied facial expression, and she continued with her narrative.
Radha continued, “As I laid my feet on the last step of those indefinite stairs, I realized I wasn’t tired anymore. When I sat down to wear my socks and shoes, I was looking at another similar temple, the peak of which was visible from the spot. A man waiting for his wife to come down as well was observing me. He was smiling at me. I thought he wanted to tell me something. Suddenly, his wife appeared from behind the last circle of steps and had an unpleasant expression on her face. She wasn’t too pleased that the husband reached earlier, and she took a long time. She did not say anything, yet her expressions were enough for the man to get up and follow her quietly. I felt something between us was left unexpressed.
I got up and went on my own business. I was walking out from the temple premises and towards the main road when I saw a man, dressed in an orange-colored garb sitting on the small raised sidewalk, looking away from the main road towards the adjacent thick jungle. He was sitting alone, with nothing in particular in front of him. There were thick bushes, and behind the bushes was a dense cluster of trees. His feet seemed to be tucked inside the thick bushes. He was sitting with his spine straight. His knotted hair from the hairline on the forehead to below his shoulders was in a million knots. One could take a lifetime to unknot his hair if one would try.
He sat quietly, oblivious to his surroundings and what was going on the main road just behind his back. His stillness made it impossible for me to take my eyes off him. Then, as if he spotted me with his invisible eyes behind his head, he sharply turned his head towards me, smiled mysteriously, and asked me rhetorically, ‘Is it 2 pm on your watch?’ I was startled by his sudden movement and then the question which followed. I looked at my phone, and it was exactly 2 pm. I raised my head from the phone to confirm the time to him, only to find him back in his death stare position in which he was in a few seconds earlier. It felt and looked as if he never moved or spoke in the first place. I started walking again, with eyes still towards him, a mystical smile on my face, and wondering what had just happened. Did this man wake me up from a trance I was in since I had returned from the temple? Was this one of those mysterious experiences which people claim happens in places like these? Or was it all in my head?’
Radha stopped speaking for a few seconds. As if waking up from his daze, Kabir nudged Radha and asked, ‘Is this the man whose story this is?’ Radha replied, ‘No, Kabir. When did I say that?’ She continued speaking, “So, I started walking….”
Kabir cut Radha short, got up from the floor, lent one hand to her, and said, “Baby, I am taking my promise back, let us go to the room; I am sleepy.”
Radha took his hand, got up, and said, “Don’t go back on your promise Kabir. Let me finish. I started walking back, and then this man came in front of me.”
By now, Kabir was running towards his room. With palms on his ears and a solid resolve to sleep early from now on!
